Tobias Holmes was on the Christian Brothers Academy basketball court for pre-game warmups Tuesday night. Schenectady’s standout sophomore guard wore street cloths and leaned on a pair of crutches.
“The hardest part is not being able to help my teammates,” Holmes said. “It’s hard to watch.”
Schenectady could have used Holmes’ points and poise in the second half. That’s when the Brothers pulled away for a 58-42 Suburban Council win, and dealt the Patriots only their second road loss in 10 games this season.
“When you take away the guy you run your offense through, it requires other kids to do things they’re not used to,” CBA coach Dave Doemel said. “They haven’t had much time to prepare without him. Maybe in a game or two they’ll right their ship, so to speak.”
Holmes suffered a torn meniscus in his right knee in the fourth quarter of Friday’s 70-65 loss to Niskayuna at the Pat Riley Sports Center. He will undergo an MRI Monday to see if there is further damage to his still-swollen knee.
His season, and quest for the 1,000-point career mark (he started on varsity as an eighth grader), ended with the injury. Surgery lies ahead.
“I stepped and turned, and heard a pop,” Holmes said. “I looked down and my knee was out of place.”
Schenectady (9-6, 11-7) was in a decent place at the half, trailing 24-21, but was hurt by offensive dry spells to begin both the third quarter and fourth.
John Ryals began both frames with a basket for the Patriots, and the Brothers (10-5, 12-6) followed those with 11-2 and 12-2 scoring spurts.
“That’s 16 points we have to make up,” Schenectady coach Eric Loudis said of Holmes’ absence. “The next couple of games, we’ll have to revamp our identity. Other kids will have to step up.
“We can’t feel sorry for ourselves. We’re not going to pack it in.”
While Schenectady got 10 points apiece from Roddy Delagrandeanse and Tyrone Jenkins, CBA got 22 from Sloan Seymour, 18 from Mike Wynn and 10 out of Ian Schultz in extending its winning streak to six games.
“We’re starting to understand the importance of the defensive end,” Doemel said. “And ball movement, we’re starting to figure that out. Some possessions tonight were fantastic.”
Schenectady had some that were not very pretty.
“We fought,” Loudis said. “We did the best we could.”
Doemel was particularly pleased with the effort of Schultz, who grabbed six rebounds, had three steals, assisted twice and scored six of his 10 points when CBA doubled up Schenectady 20-10 in the final quarter.
“Other guys do a lot of things. He does everything,” Doemel said. “On Senior Night, it was nice to see him have a great game.”
Seymour was a thorn, as well, with seven rebounds, a blocked shot and a trio of threes, one of them capping the 11-2 third-quarter run.
“We’re just playing better,” Sloan, a 6-foot-7 sophomore, said. “We’re being unselfish with the ball. We’re getting after it better on defense. We’re better with our defensive rebounding.”
Delagrandeanse blocked three shots to go with his 10 points which came in the first half. The senior’s layup gave Schenectady a 21-18 lead late in the second quarter, and Seymour followed with back-to-back threes to give the hosts a lead they never let go of.
“Other kids need to fill the void,” Loudis said. “They need to be confident and shoot it.”
Wynn started the 11-2 third-quarter run with a pair of driving baskets. Schultz scored twice down low and Wynn delivered on two more drives during CBA’s 12-2 run in the fourth that made it 50-36.
Jenkins pulled down nine rebounds, blocked a shot and drew a charge call to go with his 10 points.
SCHENECTADY
Westbrook 2-0-4, Jenkins 4-2-10, Coles 1-2-4, Delagrandeanse 4-1-10, Tchako 1-0-2, Williams 3-1-8, Ryals 2-0-4. Totals: 17-6-42.
CBA
Wynn 8-0-18, Taylor 1-0-2, Seymour 8-3-22, Jones 1-0-2, Schultz 4-2-10, Trobridge 1-2-4. Totals: 23-7-58.
Schenectady 10 11 11 10 — 42
CBA 8 16 14 20 — 58
Three-point goals: Delagrandeanse, Williams, Wynn 2, Seymour 3.
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Categories: High School Sports
